Nelson The Clown

There always used to be a frisson of excitement when the circus came to town and the arrival of William Cooke’s Royal Circus at Great Yarmouth on May 2, 1845, was no exception. To promote the attractions of the troupe, a spectacular opening event was planned, which involved Nelson the Clown, described on handbills as a “low comedian”, floating down the rivers linking one end of the town to the other, pulled by four swans.

Such was the novelty of Nelson’s performance that thousands lined the river banks with some four hundred standing on the Yarmouth suspension bridge. Beginning his journey at Haven Bridge at Hall Quay on the flood tide, the unusual procession made its way to the Suspension Bridge at North Quay, Nelson responding to the cheers of the crowd by waving and the swans even honking in appreciation. As he neared his final leg of the journey, passing under the suspension bridge, part of the crowd on the bridge pressed forward to get a better view.

Then disaster struck. One of the rods gave way and chains on one side of the bridge snapped, tipping the bridge over and catapulting those on it into the river. Frantic rescue efforts began, every available medical person was summoned to the site, and the injured were treated in Vauxhall Gardens on the west side of the Bure and in houses along the east bank. However, it soon became apparent that a major tragedy had occurred.

One by one bodies of victims were pulled out of the river, who had either drowned or been crushed by falling bodies and sections of the collapsing bridge. The bodies, seventy-nine in all, were laid out at the Norwich Arms Inn, the Admiral Collingwood and Swan public houses, the youngest victims, Mary Ann Lake and Charles Dye, just two years old and the oldest, Mary Ann Ditcham, 64. Fifty-eight of the dead were aged sixteen or under.

Every part of the town was touched by an event that had triggered the largest recorded loss of life in Great Yarmouth. The Norwich Mercury described the aftermath to its readers on May 10, 1845 thus; “In every street are to be seen one or more bodies extended on biers, returning to that home from which but short minutes before they had passed in health and life. The consternation – the agony of the town is not to be described – it is as if some dread punishment was felt to have fallen upon its inhabitants – every face is horror stricken – every eye is dim”.

Following a local campaign a memorial was installed in 2013 to commemorate the tragedy. It took the form of a stone book bearing three images, that of a young family, of Nelson with his four geese and a list of all the victims together with their ages. As for Nelson, he continued performing the same stunt for years. That’s entertainment.